RODRIGUES, Eliana; CARLINI, Elisaldo L. de Araújo. Plants with possible psychoactive

actions used by the Krahô Indians, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria 28(4): 277-

82, 2006.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Plantas com possíveis ações psicoativas utilizadas pelos índios Krahô, Brasil*.

Plants with possible psychoactive actions used by the Krahô Indians, Brazil*.

Eliana Rodrigues** and E. A. Carlini

Department of Psychobiology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Rua

Botucatu, 862 - 1° andar Edifício Ciências Biomédicas CEP 04023-062, São Paulo, S.P.,

Brazil

**Corresponding author Tel: + 55-11-2149-0155

Fax: + 55-11-5084-2793

E-mail address: elirodri@psicobio.epm.br

This project has been approved by the UNIFESP’s Research Ethics Committee (n° 056/00)

RESUMO

OBJETIVO: Apesar da riqueza biológica encontrada no Brasil não foram desenvolvidos,

até o momento, fitoterápicos voltados para tratamentos psiquiátricos a partir desta flora. O

principal objetivo deste estudo foi documentar as plantas utilizadas pelos índios Krahô em

rituais de cura, sobretudo aquelas com potenciais ações psicoativas. Esta etnia indígena

ocupa uma área no bioma cerrado, numa região central do Brasil. Além disso, estes

resultados foram comparados àqueles obtidos durante um levantamento bibliográfico

realizado a respeito das plantas psicoativas utilizadas por outras 25 etnias indígenas

brasileiras.

MÉTODOS: Os dois anos de trabalho de campo foram conduzidos utilizando-se métodos

da antropologia e botânica.

RESULTADOS: Sete xamãs locais foram entrevistados e indicaram 98 receitas preparadas

a partir de 45 plantas para 25 usos, que parecem estar envolvidos a propriedades

psicoativas, são eles: “para evitar ficar louco”, “estimulante”, “calmante”, “para

diminuir tremores”, “para dormir por mais tempo”, “para abrir a cabeça” e “para

induzir o sono”. Este artigo descreve também um levantamento bibliográfico que registrou

58 plantas utilizadas por 25 etnias indígenas brasileiras que de modo similar podem ter

alguma ação psicoativa.

CONCLUSÃO: É muito rica a terapêutica para males psicológicos/psiquiátricos a partir de

plantas utilizadas pelos índios Krahô. Este mesmo fato ocorre entre outras etnias indígenas

brasileiras. Futuros estudos de fitoquímica e farmacologia a serem realizados com estas

plantas poderão prover a psiquiatria com novos medicamentos.

Palavras-chave: etnofarmacologia; sistema nervoso central; substâncias psicoativas;

plantas medicinais; curadores; xamanismo.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Apart from the richness of the Brazilian biodiversity, there are no

phytomedicines concerning psychiatric treatments available until now, developed from this

flora. The aim of the present study was to document the use of plants, with possible

psychoactive actions, in rituals carried out by the Krahô Indians, who occupy the cerrado

savannahs biome in the central region of Brazil. Also the present data were compared with

those obtained during a bibliographical survey on the use of psychoactive plants by 25

Brazilian indigenous groups.

METHOD: Two years of fieldwork were carried out, using methods of anthropology and

botany.

RESULTS: Seven local shamans were interviewed and have indicated 98 formulas,

consisting of 45 plant species with 25 uses that appear to involve psychoactive properties,

such as: “to prevent going crazy”, “stimulant effect”, “to calm down”, “for tremors”, “to

sleep longer”, “to have an open mind” and “to induce sleep”. This article also describes

the bibliographical survey which recorded 58 plants utilized by 25 Brazilian Indian cultures

whose may have psychoactive actions/effects.

CONCLUSION: The therapeutics concerning psychological/psychiatric disorders from the

plants utilized by the Krahô Indians is very rich. It is also observed among other Brazilian

indigenous groups. Future phytochemical and pharmacological studies on these plants

could bring new medicines to treat psychiatric disorders.

Keywords: ethnopharmacology; central nervous system; psychoactive substances;

medicinal plants; healers; shamanism.

INTRODUCTION

It is well known the rich heritage from plants to medicine, such as: cardiac

glycosides (digoxin from Digitalis lanata Ehrhart and digitoxin from Digitalis purpurea

L.), drugs acting on cholinergic system (atropine from Atropa belladonna L. and

pilocarpine from Pilocarpus jaborandi Holmes.) and narcotic analgesics (morphine from

Papaver somniferum L.). Some of them are such contributions, which are nowadays still

useful as therapeutic agents, nonetheless, nature was not as prodigious to yield of

psychoactive phytomedicines. Apart from the richness of the many hallucinogenic

plants1,2,3,4 which, however, are no useful to treat mental illnesses, Rauvolfia serpentina (L.)

Benth. ex Kurz , a breakthrough for the initial brain treatment and understanding of

schizophrenia biochemical disturbances, no other great discovery has yet occurred. In fact,

in spite of a few plants seemingly possessing either anxiolytic (Piper methysticum G. Forst.

- kava-kava, and species belonging to Passiflora sp.), antidepressive (Hypericum

perforatum L.) or stimulant properties (Ephedra vulgaris Willk.), it is not known up to the

present days examples of plants doted with anti-maniac or anti-psychotic properties that

could make them accepted useful psychoactive medicines.

And this is a sad reality, as psychiatric treatments with synthetic drugs is far from

being satisfactory. In fact, the available psychotherapeutic agents are not fully active

against the symptoms of mental disease, may take too long to start acting and induce an

array of serious adverse reactions5,6.

However it is well possible that nature has already yield its mysteries to psychiatry.

Actually it may well be that psychoactive plants are still waiting for psychiatry and

psychopharmacology to extend their hands to them. In fact, the contact of mankind with

these plants may have already occurred probably centuries ago, as data obtained from

ethnopharmacological studies. In Brazil and other South American countries the situation is

not different. Thus, ethnopharmacological surveys carried out among indigenous groups

living in the Northwest of the Amazon region revealed psychoactive plants7 and

specifically those for senile diseases8 some of which used for symptoms mimicking

Alzheimer disease. In Brazil, seemingly psychoactive plants - those that have the ability to

affect aspects of the mind and behavior, including patterns of thought, humor, anxiety,

cognition performance and well-being9, are more usually used by indigenous groups and by

the Brazilian African descendants, mostly during healing ceremonies, facilitating the

communication with the spirits10.

The present work describes an ethnopharmacological survey carried out among the

Krahô Indians, concerning the plants with possible psychoactive effects in ritual contexts -

so much in the sense of curing mental pathologies as of producing mental alterations. Also

the present data were compared with those obtained during a bibliographical survey on the

use of psychoactive plants by 25 Brazilian indigenous groups (Rodrigues et al.11).

METHODS

Five criteria were used to select the geographical area and the human group to be

studied. They are, by order of importance: a) groups living in cerrado savannahs and/or

pantanal wetlands; as these two biomes were less studied than Mata Atlântica rain forest,

and Amazon Equatorial rain forest; b) the choice of indigenous group, as these populations

at least apparently, posses a great knowledge on plants that may alter behaviour; c) the

indigenous groups should also practice rituals associated with the use of medicinal plants;

d) the “cures” should be exercised by “specialists” (shaman, healers, and so on) present

among the chosen indigenous population and finally e) geographical isolation in relation to

governmental or private organizations providing conventional medical assistance.

In order to comply with these criteria, professors and researchers from the following

institutions dealing with the Brazilian indigenous groups were consulted: University of São

Paulo; Federal University of Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso; Non-Governmental

Organization such as Comissão Pró-Índio (Acre State) and Centro de Trabalho Indigenista

(CTI-São Paulo State).

Based on the information provided, the Krahô Nation was selected. Furthermore,

the Krahô Indians had already manifested great interest in having their medicinal plants

studied, as they have stated to the anthropologist Gilberto Azanha (from CTI), who

maintain contact with the Krahô for the last 20 years.

The fieldwork was undertaken by one of the authors (ER) from July 1999 through

July 2001, by utilizing methods from anthropology (ethnography) and botany. A total of ten

trips, 20 days duration for each trip, were made to three Krahô villages. Prior consent was

obtained during meetings in each village in the beginning of fieldwork.

At the beginning of the fieldwork, while becoming acquainted with the area,

informal interviews12 were performed among two hundred adult inhabitants of the three

villages. Seven individuals were selected to participate in the study, as they were identified

as wajaca (a healer or shaman) by the others. Once selected, the knowledge of these seven

wajacas regarding the methods of diagnosis and healing, and on their beliefs, were obtained

through dozens of interviews, and participant observations, which were carried out during

daily activities such as fishing, hunting and fruit harvest. Personal and

ethnopharmacological knowledge aspects of the interviewees were obtained with the use of

questionnaires with open questions in semi-structured interviews13 where the following

topics were addressed: line of descent, age, level of schooling, and the status of each

interviewee in his/her community (personal data); composition of a given formula, its

respective therapeutic indication, doses, method of preparation and counterindications

(ethnopharmacological data). Furthermore, it was recorded in a notebook of “field notes”

all details of Krahô daily living habits, in order of not forgetting important items. Such

recording were useful for the future interpretation of what was said by the interviewees in

contrast with was direct observed by the interviewer.

The same interviewees were repeatedly queried during different field trips to

confirm the information provided by them previously.

During the interviews, it was possible to learn about and to document on the use of

plants for many therapeutic purposes. These information were used to select the plants and

their medicinal formulas with possible CNS activity, the focus of this study.

It was furthermore necessary to establish a translation procedure with the help of

Krahô teachers, since despite utilizing rudimentary Portuguese to communicate with the

"whites," the interviewees also had their own language, which they used most of the time.

Through this process, correlations were made between the indications by the Krahô and

those according to conventional medicine. This translation permitted the understanding of

certain beliefs linked to the cause of some illnesses. For example, in Krahô medicine there

are three types of fever, each one of them having a different origin, symptomatology and

name.

Three samples of each plant were collected and the following information were

obtained; blooming, fruiting, origin and location at the time of collection. The plant

material collected was identified by taxonomists at the Botanical Institute of São Paulo

State (SP) and a voucher sample deposited at that Institute.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

It was decided not to publish the scientific names of the plants indicated in this

research. However, they are referenced by their respective names in Timbira language,

written in bold italics throughout the text. Our decision is part of a trend in global conduct

by investigators developing projects with medicinal plants associated with traditional

knowledge, aiming guaranteeing the ethnic groups their rights in a possible patent14,15,16. It

is certain that the Krahô deserves to obtain adequate compensations for their knowledge, as

they have contributed with useful information.

Observations on the Krahô Medicine

The healing process involves two parts: the first is a ceremony conducted by the

wajacas, mainly at night; during this practice they smoke tobacco, marijuana or some other

native plants, such as caprankohiré; pjejapac, ahkrô and mãputréhô, for which a special

pipe is used, called a cót. The act of smoking helps in communicating with the pahi

(spiritual guides, generally represented by the spirits of animals, plants, objects or even the

deceased) or in furnishing more power at the moment of the healing, according to the

interviewees. The exhaled smoke is blown on the patient, “spreading out the illness”,

turning it "more easily diagnosed"; or, even, to “gather” the illness, which was spread

throughout the body of the patient, to a single point so that it could then be “aspirated”.

Some wajacas, after “aspirating” the illness with their mouth, materialize it in the form of

an object that is shown to the relatives of the ill person as proof of the healing. The act of

materializing the illness, related above, is also seen between other Brazilian indigenous

nations, as Bakairi (observed during field work by the author E.R.) and also African

societies, such as the Azande17.

In the second part, after the ceremony, the wajaca chooses one plant to be utilized in

the treatment and returns in the following hours and days several times to the patient’s

home to follow up on the effects of the remedy administered.

The wayaca is specialist in one or more illnesses, such as snakebites, fever, or may

have "expertise" to deal with illnesses related to the karõ (soul). It is believed that when the

karõ leaves the body of a very sick patient, the wajaca needs to bring it back, to improve

the patient health. In these healing ceremonies, the souls of the deceased often fight with

the wajaca over the karõ of the patients and at this moment a struggle takes place where

this wajaca receives help from two other wajacas who need to be on hand to help him to

“win the battle”. When a Krahô is near death, the karõ escapes and it is impossible to

retrieve it.

The seven shamans have indicated 98 formulas, consisting of 45 plant species

utilized for 25 uses that appear to involve psychoactive properties. Those 25 uses were

grouped into 7 categories according to similarities among their expected effects, as can be

seen in Table 1. For example, uses 1 to 4 (category 1- hallucinogens) comprised a total of

23 plants employed to alter the perception; uses 11 to 16 (11 plants) were included within

the category 4 - sleep disorders. In some instances the same species was cited for more

than one use. For example, the species known as wrywry cahàcré, was cited by different

interviewees for various uses, belonging to the categories: thought modifiers and memory

enhancers.

Besides knowledge on how to compound the formulas (parts of the plant utilized

and methods of preparation), the Krahô medicine also has notions on the doses required

(distinctly for adults and children), and has indications and counterindications (generally

for children, elderly and pregnancy) for each of the formulas. It was then observed that the

knowledge and care of this indigenous culture regarding the “pharmacology” of these

plants are very close to the principles of pharmacovigilance18.

Below is a description of the plants utilized by the Kraho Indians and their uses

belonging to five of the categories listed in Table 1.

Category: Hallucinogens (23 plants): Sixteen plants were cited as “mind modifiers”

substituting for marijuana (referred to as iamhô) in therapeutic and social contexts. Based

on reports, they are dangerous plants, as they stay longer than marijuana in the body, and

their abuse could result in mental disturbances. During the healing ritual, they are very

often used for the diagnosis and the healing.

Category: Head illnesses (15 plants): According to the beliefs of the Krahô, a person is

“crazy” or is “mixed up in the mind,” when he or she begins to behave strangely. Such

persons do not know what they are doing or saying. They may begin to throw things

(clothes, pans) out of the home. They may think that the food or water is contaminated and

therefore refrain from eating and drinking; or they begin to talk to themselves. Often, they

may be aggressive, putting the lives of family members and domestic animals at risk. All

these symptoms in a way resemble those that may be observed in person diagnosed as

schizophrenics or suffering from other psychotic diseases. Eight plants were indicated for

“craziness,” which are generally consumed as teas over a long period of time (several

months) in connection with rituals. Wajacas are known to have many powers to reverse the

crises that befall such patients, as there have been accounts of such success. However, the

Krahô believed that this type of illness originates from white people, and therefore, only a

white person can cure those afflicted with it. Many interviewees explained that some Krahô

could not mix marijuana and alcoholic beverage, or it could unchain madness in them.

Anxiolytics (14 plants): Some plants may be ingested in the form of teas “to calm down”

and others can be chewed before traveling through the forest to prevent the fear of

encountering certain animals, such as jaguars and snakes. This fear was related to the

indication “anxiety.”

Sleep disorders (11 plants): The possible oneirogenic effect – the production or the

increase of nature divinatory dreams – attributed to a mushroom by Krahô raises the

attention, mainly because its use occurs when the wajaca is unable to diagnose the disease.

Mayagoitia et al.19 studied the species Calea zacatechichi, used by Mexican Indians to

obtain divinatory messages during the sleep. It was observed that this plant induces sleep in

cats; increases the superficial stages of sleep and the number of spontaneous awaking, in

humans.

Antidepressants and/or Stimulants (10 plants): The plants can be consumed as teas or

can also be used to do body paintings with the same aim. Some of former have been

substituted by the introduction of coffee. The Krahô Indians did not demonstrate

knowledge concerning the pathology: depression, therefore, some of the plants indicated as

stimulants could be anti-depressives, once this culture does not recognize this second effect.

Moreover, the observation that these plants are not related to appetite loss, not being an

amphetamine like drug20, reinforces such supposition.

Finally, in a recent review article concerning the ethnopharmacological surveys

carried out among 25 Brazilian Indian cultures (Figure 1), it was described 58 plants with

potential psychoactive actions/effects, many of them being already studied by science11.

This article described 25 plants as hallucinogens, 10 as anxiolytics, 8 for head illnesses, 7

for sleep disorders, 6 as antidepressants and/or stimulants and 2 as memory enhancers, as

can be seen in Table 2. While the Krahô Indians have indicated 28 plants as hallucinogens,

15 as anxiolytics, 16 for head illnesses, 12 for sleep disorders, 10 as antidepressants and/or

stimulants and 6 as memory enhancers (Table 1).

Comparing both studies, we verify that the plant potential described during the

survey developed among Krahô Indians is still superior to those other comprising 25 Indian

cultures.

One of the reasons to explain this disparity may be the fact that not all the data

obtained during ethnopharmacological surveys are published, moreover some of the studies

focus the hallucinogens utilized among Indians that live in Amazon forest.

The data obtained in the ethnopharmacological study carried out among the Krahô

Indians; as well as those from the bibliographical survey concerning the Brazilian

indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants with possible psychoactive effects, point

promises at the future development of new medicines available for the psychiatry. Only a

joint effort of the pharmacology and phytochemistry will be able to turn such development

a reality.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Krahô Indians and Gilberto Azanha, from the NGO Centro de

Trabalho Indigenista (CTI) for the information furnished to us. We also thank FAPESP

(Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) and AFIP (Associação Fundo de

Incentivo à Psicofarmacologia), which provided financial support and made this research

possible. Finally, we thank Dr. Lúcia Rossi of the Botanical Institute of São Paulo State

(SP), for conducting the botanical identification of the plants collected.

REFERENCES

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3- Schultes RE, Raffauf RF. The healing forest: medicinal and toxic plants of the northwest

Amazonia. Portland: Dioscorides Press; 1990.

4- Prance GT. The poisons and narcotics of the Amazoniam Indians. Acta Amazon.

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adverse drug reactions in psychiatric inpatients treated with neuroleptics.

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of Psychiatry. Pharm World Sci. 2001;23(5):181-2.

7- Schultes RE. The virgin field in psychoactive plant research. Bol Museu Emílio Goeldi.

1990;6(1):7-82.

8- Schultes RE. Plants in treating senile dementia in the Northwest Amazon. J

Ethnopharmacol 1993;38(2-3):129-35.

9- Bertolote JM, Girolamo G de (eds.). Essential drugs in psychiatry. Geneva: World

Health

Organization; 1993.

10- Rodrigues E, Carlini EA. A comparison of plants utilized in ritual healing by two

Brazilian cultures: Quilombolas and Indians. J Psychoactive Drugs (in press).

11- Rodrigues E, Negri G, Mendes FR. Plants indicated by Brazilian Indians to Central

Nervous System disturbances: A chemical approach. Curr Med Chem

Central Nervous System Agents (in press).

12- Bernard HR. Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology. London: Sage publications;

1988.

13- Martin GJ. Ethnobotany: a methods manual. London: Chapman and Hall; 1995.

14- Greaves T, editor. Intellectual Property Rights for Indigenous People: A sourcebook.

Oklahoma City: Society for Applied Anthropology; 1994.

15- Clement CR, Alexiades MN. Etnobotânica e biopirataria na Amazônia. In: Cavalcanti

TB, Walter BMT, organizers. Tópicos atuais em botânica, Brasília: Sociedade Botânica

Brasil/EMBRAPA; 2000. p. 250-252.

16- Laird SA, Alexiades MN, Bannister KP, Posey, D. Publication of biodiversity research

results and the flow of knowledge. In: Laird SA. editor. Biodiversity and traditional

Knowledge: Equitable partnerships in practice, Earthscan: London; 2002. p. 77-101.

17- Pritchard E. Bruxaria, oráculos e magia entre os azande. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar; 1978.

18- Rodrigues E. Plantas com restrições de uso indicadas por três grupos humanos do

Brasil

(caboclo, indígena e quilombolas). J Bras de Fitomed. 2005;3(3):92-100.

19- Mayagoitia L, Dias JL, Contreras CM. Psychopharmacologic analysis of an alleged

oneirogenic plant: Calea zacatechichi. J Ethnopharmacol. 1986;18(3):229-43.

20- Zelger JL, Carlini EA. Anorexigenic effects of two amines obtained from Catha edulis

Forsk. (khat). Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1980;12(5):701-5.

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Figure 1: Map of the South America, showing the geographical location in the Brazilian territory of each one of the 25 analyzed indigenous cultures [apud Rodrigues et al11].

Table 1: The 25 uses of 45 identified plant species by the Brazilian Krahô wajacas with possible psychoactive actions, grouped in 7 categories.

Uses related to possible psychoactive action(n° of plants cited)*

Category Number of formulas (per category)

1-“ to modifying mind” (16) 2-“to talk to pahis (spirits)” (4) 3-“smoking substituted by tobacco” (1) 4-“to get slow” (2)

1- Hallucinogens 28

5-“to prevent going crazy” (1) 6-"illnesses of the karõ (soul)" (5) 7-“for tremors” (1) 8-“craziness” (8)

2-Head illnesses 16

9-“anxiety”(2) 10-“to calm” (12)

3-Anxiolytics 15

11-“to stop snoring” (2) 12-“to sleep longer” (1) 13-“to have premonition dreams” (1) 14-“to sleep more lightly” (1) 15-“to have good dreams” (1) 16-“to induce sleep” (5)

4-Sleep disorders 12

17-“to help thinking” (5) 18-“to rest the head” (1) 19-“to have an open mind” (1) 20-“to clear one’s thoughts” (1)

5-Thought modifiers 11

21-“for being happy” (6) 22-“to remove sadness from the body” (1) 23-“stimulant” (3)

6-Antidepressants and/or Stimulants

10

24-“to enhance memory” (5) 25-“to remember dreams” (1)

7-Memory enhancers 6

25 uses (87 citations of plants) 7 categories 98 formulas

* Although the total number of plant species with possible psychoactive action is 45 (belonging to

the 7 categories), there are a total of 87 citations of plants - in parentheses - once, in some cases, the

same species was cited for more than one use.

Table 2: Number of plants and uses per category of use, indicated by the 25 Indigenous Brazilian cultures, resembling psychoactive actions/effects.

Category of use Number of uses per category Number of species per category indicated by the Brazilian Indians

Hallucinogens Uses (7) Species (25) Additives to some plants (Anadenanthera

peregrina, Virola theiodora and other Virolas); Hallucinogen; Inebriating snuff; Narcotic; To see far (shamanism); Substitute for Nicatiana tabacum; Psychoactive.

1. Anadenanthera macrocarpa (Benth.) Brenan 2. Anadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg. (yopo) 3. Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) C.V.

Morton (caapi, ayahuasca) 4. Brugmansia insignis (Barb. Rodr.) R.E. Schult. and

Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) C.V. Morton

5. Cestrum laevigatum Schltdl. (dama-da-noche) 6. Chelonanthus alatus (Aubl.) Pulle 7. Elizabetha princeps Schomburgk ex Benth. 8. Erythrina glauca Willd. 9. Helicostylis tomentosa (Poepp. & Endl.) Rusby

(takini) 10. Justicia pectoralis Jacq. 11. Justicia pectoralis Jacq. var. stenophylla Leonard

(mashi-hiri) 12. Licania humilis Cham. & Schltdl. (akukuti) 13. Maquira calophylla (Poepp. & Endl.) C.C. Berg. 14. Maquira sclerophylla (Ducke) C.C. Berg (rapé-dos-

índios) 15. Mimosa hostilis (Mart.) Benth. (maconha-brava, wild

marihuana, jurema, yurema) 16. Nicotiana tabacum L.

17. Ocotea aciphylla (Nees) Mez (airipana) 18. Psychotria viridis Ruiz & Pav. (yajé) 19. Tetrapteris methystica (caapí-pinima) 20. Theobroma subincanum Martius in Buchner 21. Trichilia tocacheana C. DC. 22. Virola calophylla (Spruce) Warb. (yakee, paricá,

epená, nyakwana) 23. Virola calophylloidea Markgr. (yakee, paricá,

epená, nyakwana) 24. Virola elongata (Benth.) Warb. 25. Virola theiodora (Spruce ex Benth.) Warb. (yakee,

paricá, epená, nyakwana)

category Uses (4) Species (10) Anxiolytics To calm the nerves;

To calm; Childish indisposition; Nervousness child's cry.

1. Baccharis uncinella DC.(vassoura-do-campo) 2. Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf (capim-santo) 3. Henriettea granulata O. Berg & Triana (pöra) 4. Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Br (cidreira) 5. Melissa officinalis L. (erva-cidreira) 6. Miconia holosericea (L.) DC (pöra-imö) 7. Miconia rubiginosa (Bonpl.) DC. (pöra-imö) 8. Passiflora edulis Sims. (maracujá) 9. Tabernaemontana sananho Ruiz & Pav. 10. Tococa formicaria Mart.

category Uses (4) Species (8)

Head illnesses Madness; Stimulant for the growth of the breasts; Antidote of the Dioclea species; Antidote against curare.

1. Anacardium giganteum W. Hancock ex Engl. (oroi) 2. Chondrodendron tomentosum Ruiz & Pav. 3. Clitoria guianensis (Aubl.) Benth. (yawi arokö) 4. Dichorisandra affinis Mart. (püreu-imö) 5. Myrcia multiflora (Lam.) DC. (nono atü) 6. Pterocarpus michelii Britton (iruluma-iriki) 7. Spondias lutea L. (mope) 8. Tachigalia paniculata Aubl.

category Uses (4) Species (7) Sedatives Elderly who find difficult to sleep;

Induce sleep; Insomnia; Sedative.

1. Brugmansia insignis (Barb. Rodr.) R.E. Schult. 2. Lactuca sativa L. (alface) 3. Marcgraviastrum elegans de Roon (no-tê-wê-tá) 4. Mimosa pudica L. (cipó-dorme-dorme) 5. Passiflora laurifolia L. 6. Pilocarpus pennatifolius Lem. (ibirarta-iba) 7. Urera lobulata Urb. & Ekman (guaxima)

category Uses (1) Species (6) Antidepressants and/or Stimulants

Stimulant. 1. Aniba canelilla (Kunth) Mez 2. Boerhavia coccinea Mill. (pega-pinto) 3. Brosimum acutifolium Huber (inharé) 4. Erythroxylum coca L. var. Ipadu (botô) 5. Paullinia cupana Kunth 6. Tachigalia paniculata Aubl.

category Uses (2) Species (2) Memory enhancers Improve memory;

Old people who are forgetful. 1. Ficus anthelmintica Mart. 2. Tabernaemontana heterophylla Vahl

Source: apud Rodrigues et al11